Marble game with gyratory pickup cup

ABSTRACT

A GAME AND A DEVICE FOR USE IN PLAYING THE GAME, IN WHICH TWO OR MORE MAY PARTICIPATE. A PLURALITY OF SPHERICAL OBJECTS, E.G. MARBLES ARE DISPOSED AT A HOME BASE AND THE PLAYERS TRANSFER THE SAME ONE BY ONE FROM THE BASE TO A GOAL. THE DEVICE COMPRISES A CUP HAVING A FRUSTOCONICAL INTERIOR WITH ITS SMALLER END DOWN AND OPEN. DURING PLAY THE CUP IS POSITIONED WITH ITS OPEN BOTTOM OVER A MARBLE AND, UPON IMPARTING GYRATORY MOTION TO THE CUP THE MARBLE WILL BE GIVEN LIKE MOTION TO CAUSE THE SAME TO RISE IN THE CUP AND BE HELD   THEREIN BY THE GYRATORY MOTION AS IMPLEMENTED BY CENTRIFUGAL FORCE. SUCH MOTION IS CONTINUED WHILE THE DEVICE AND MARBLE ARE TRANSFERRED TO THE GOAL WHERE, UPON INTERRUPTION OF MOTION, THE MARBLE MAY BE DEPOSITED THEREAT. FAILURE OF A PARTICIPANT TO SUSTAIN THE REQUIRED GYRATORY MOTION DURING TRANSFER WILL ALLOW THE MARBLE TO DROP OUT PRIOR TO REACHING THE GOAL.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Arnold J. Gunderson Chicago, Ill. [21] Appl. No. 810,623 [22] Filed Mar. 26, 1969 (45] Patented June 28, 1971 [73] Assignee Cbemtoy Corporation [54] MARBLE GAME WITH GYRATORY PICKUP CUP 1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 273/109, 273/1 [51] Int. Cl A631), A63b 67/00 [50] Field of Search 273/109, 112, 113, 1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 956,244 4/1910 Westerberg 273/109UX 3,101,946 8/1946 Ebert Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant ExaminerTheatrice Brown AuomeyLeonard S. Knox ABSTRACT: A game and a device for use in playing the game, in which two or more may participate. A plurality of spherical objects, e.g. marbles are disposed at a home base and the players transfer the same one by one from the base to a goal. The device comprises a cup having a frustoconical interior with its smaller end down and open. During play the cup is positioned with its open bottom over a marble and, upon imparting gyratory motion to the cup the marble will be given like motion to cause the same to rise in the cup and be held therein by the gyratory motion as implemented by centrifugal force. Such motion is continued while the device and marble are transferred to the goal where, upon interruption of motion, the marble may be deposited thereat. Failure of a participant to sustain the required gyratory motion during transfer will allow the marble to drop out prior to reaching the goal.

MARBLE GAME WITH GYRATORY PICKUP CUP FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention belongs in the field of competitive games requiring manual dexterity and coordination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention comprises a competitive game of skill in which a plurality of spherical objects, e.g. marbles, are to be transferred one by one from a home base to a goal. Transfer is effected by the use of a cup having a frustoconical interior having its smaller end down and open to a sufficient diameter to be placed over a marble with some reasonable clearance. The game is played by disposing a plurality of marbles on a horizontal surface, e.g. the floor, whereupon the first player will place the cup over any of the marbles and impart gyratory motion to the cup which will, in turn, impart similar motion to the marble. By reason of the inclined wall of the cup the gyratory motion imparted to the marble, as implemented by centrifugal force, will cause the marble to roll on the wall and remain within the cup, provided that the player manipulates the cup in such manner as to balance gravity against the forces acting on the ball due to its motion. If the gyratory motion is too vigorously applied the ball will roll over the upper rim of the cup or, if not applied vigorously enough, gravity will prevail and the ball will drop out at the bottom. In either case, depending upon the rules by which the game is played, the player loses his turn, is disqualified or uses more time to transfer his quota of marbles, so that he loses.

In a preferred form the invention comprehends the provision, adjacent the top rim of the cup, of an interior peripheral rib so that, under the anticipated forces to which the marble must be subjected, the rim will be adequate to prevent the marble from overshooting the top of the cup.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a perspective showing to illustrate the initial and terminal positions of a marble, the cup and the approximate path of the marble in space;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross section to show the shape of the cup and the relation of the marble therewith; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of an alternative form of cup.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As alluded to above, a plurality of marbles I is grouped on a horizontal surface e.g. the floor, there being as many mar bles as the number of participants may dictate. For example, if there are two players, each may be required to transfer three marbles within a specified period, say 1 minute. The time may be arbitrarily selected depending upon the dexterity of the players. Adults, being better coordinated, will be allowed less time than children who are not so well coordinated or are less able to comprehend the principles of the game. The marbles allocated to each player may be differently colored for easy identification. If desired the home base may be a dish 12. The goal may be of any suitable form, e.g. a circle chalked on the floor, or another dish 14.

The cup 16 is desirably a frustoconical shell of any suitable material having reasonable rigidity, e.g. of molded plastic composition. The exterior configuration of the cup is unimportant since it performs no function other than to provide a gripping surface. However, since articles molded of plastic composition are preferably of thin section, the thin-walled form illustrated is the most desirable and the cheapest. The interior of the cup need not conform to a frustum ofa cone but may be of some other surface of revolution in which the diameter gradually increases from bottom to top, e.g. a paraboloid.

The apical angle of the conical shell insofar as concerns its interior surface, is so selected as to allow the marble to rise thereon as gyratory motion is imparted thereto but not rise too rapidly under reasonable impetus. Too small an angle will require awkward manipulation while too large an angle will require a somewhat exhausting type of manipulation, since the average diameter of the helical path is then too large. It has been found that an apical angle of from 40 to 50 satisfies the ability of players of all ages and widely differing skills. It will have become apparent that the home base and goal may be far apart or close together depending upon the challenge the players wish to choose. Such distance may vary from say 3 feet to 10 feet or more.

To afford maximum difficulty in playing the game the interior surface of the cup may be unobstructed. By so doing a somewhat high order of control is required to prevent the marble from overshooting the top edge. However, it is preferred to provide an interior peripheral rib I8 adjacent the top edge of the cup or at such edge. The rib will have a cross section so designed as to allow the piece part to be readily stripped from the mold.

In playing the game each player will hold the cup as shown in full lines (FIG. 2) over the chosen marble 10a and impart gyratory motion thereto. The swing will be so calculated as to initiate gyratory motion of the marble which, upon motion of the cup being sustained, will rise upwardly along its interior, as indicated by the broken line helical path 21. Having captured the marble within the cup the player will continue the gyratory motion and transfer the cup and marble to the goal 14. The path Zia shown in FIG. I represents the motion of the marble in space during transfer to the goal, indicating that the gyratory motion must be sustained until the cup is above the goal, whereupon cessation of motion will allow the marble to drop into the goal.

Referring to FIG. 3 the cup has been modified by the addition of an elongated handle 22, the player manipulating the cup while holding the upper end portion of the handle. It will be understood that gyratory movement of the cup is somewhat more difficult to impart and control when the same is at a distance from the player's hand. Thus, the embodiment of FIG. 3 may be utilized to add difficulty to the game or to handicap a more experienced player as against a novice.

While I have shown particular embodiments of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made and I, therefore, contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

lclaim:

l. A device for use in playing a game in which a spherical object is to be transferred from one point of a field to another by imparting to, and maintaining gyratory movement of the object pending transfer comprising a spherical object, a cup having an opening at the bottom, the interiorof the cup having a surface conforming to a surface of revolution which increases in diameter from one end of its axis to the other, the smaller diameter being at the bottom, the said opening at the bottom being large enough to pass the object, the interior of the cup being provided with a peripheral bead adjacent the end of larger diameter to limit the height to which the object may rise along the interior during its gyratory motion. 

